Aging Capriciously

There is nothing new in writing or talking about violence in America.  The civil rights activist H. Rap Brown said, “Violence is as American as cherry pie” in 1967, which people later misquoted using “apple pie.” 

A woman friend of mine who belongs to the Bahai Faith gave me a short manuscript in Bahai Studies Volume 6 titled “The Violence Free Society:  A Gift for Our Children” by Hossain B. Danesh.  I want to print the following excerpt from the introduction to this manuscript: 

“Physical and mental violence has become the hallmark of modern society.  Infringements of the rights of others, distortions of the truth and of human relationships, the profanation of human nature and outright destructive actions are ceaselessly reported – sometimes even celebrated – in the media and constitute the major themes of modern literature.  Violence casts its shadow everywhere and few children born today can look forward to a life free of violence.” 

These words were not written yesterday.  Nor a few weeks or even months ago.  They were written in 1979.  That was nearly 50 years ago.  They could have been written today or tomorrow without changing one word.  America is a Land of Violence. 

Three days ago, a news report on one of the major networks reported about a robbery that took place in a Texas bank.  The robber was shot by a civilian or customer in the bank.  The robber managed to get out of the bank but was found by the police and died shortly afterwards.  I was listening to this newscast on YouTube and noticed that there was close to 400,000 views and over 2000 comments.  I read about 100 or so of the comments.  Here are a few of them: 

• This is the best kind of deterrence.  Don’t even think of robbing a bank.  Or anyone for that matter.
• He finally got the help We all needed.  Damn criminals.
• Give that customer a free toaster
• Great job customer.  One less robber.  Give him a big reward.
• Criminals beware.  Americans are getting sick of the sh*t.

In 100 comments or so, I found only one that expressed some remorse for the death of another human being.  This person was roundly criticized by others who labeled him/her a Pollyanna.  I continued scrolling to find any other sympathy but NADA.  The robber according to eyewitnesses had a knife and not a gun.  Now a knife can kill you very easily so there was no doubt a threat to employees and customers.  However, robbing a bank with a knife strikes me as a person with a severe mental illness or perhaps financial desperation.  This does not justify robbing the bank, but it might be some grounds for sympathy or compassion rather than glee at his death. 

Could the robber have been incapacitated by the customer rather than killed?  How much value do we put on killing a person over a sack of money?  Where is any remorse over another person being killed?  Most banks have FDIC so even if the robber got away with some money, no one in that bank was going to be out one dollar. 

Why does a nation founded upon ideals of liberty, equality and individual rights repeatedly resort to violence against people it fears, hates, wishes to control, or simply regards as belonging to the wrong group?  And then we glorify the violence? 

Why does violence seem to be getting worse?  More road rage, more school shootings, more mass killings, more fear everywhere you turn.  We have entered a new feudal age with gated communities and more private armed guards than public police officers.  Not to mention the over four hundred million guns owned by people that can now carry them about loaded.  In several states, no permit is needed to purchase a gun or carry it.    

The late Pope Francis wrote an encyclical titled Laudato si’.  This was a global call to protect planet Earth and all people, arguing that environmental degradation is deeply tied to poverty, consumerism, and a lack of human connection.  Pope Francis wrote that gated communities are often built “to ensure an artificial tranquility,” serving as physical barriers that separate the affluent from society… They reflect a broken human ecology where wealthier populations wall themselves off rather than engaging with or improving the broader urban fabric.

In the next few weeks, I am going to write about eleven types of violence in our society.  I am going to conclude this series with a final and 12^th blog on what we as citizens can do to alleviate the violence.  “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result” was first penned in Narcotics Anonymous literature from 1981. 

We have tried more policing.  We have tried more guns.  We have tried tougher and mandatory sentencing.  We have built more prisons.  We have incarcerated more Americans per capita than most other countries in the world.

The U.S. incarcerates its people at a much higher rate than any other major, wealthy democracy.  The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any independent democracy on earth, at a rate of 580 per 100,000 residents. Western European nations usually maintain incarceration rates between 60 and 150 per 100,000 people. This means the U.S. rate is roughly four to five times higher.  While a few nations (such as El Salvador) have higher peak rates due to specific mass-arrest campaigns, the U.S. consistently remains near the very top globally and holds a disproportionate share of the world’s total prison population relative to its size. 

So, if you still think more prisons, longer sentences, more guns, mor police, more incarceration is going to make you feel safter and create a safer America, than you need to see a psychiatrist. 

 “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result“

Here are the eleven categories of violence that I am going to discuss: 

1. Social Violence — violence arising from social conflict, alienation, inequality, bullying, gangs, community breakdown, and interpersonal disputes.
2. Racial and Ethnic Violence — slavery, lynching, racial massacres, attacks on Indigenous peoples, hate crimes, and racially motivated contemporary violence.
3. Domestic and Intimate-Partner Violence — spouses, partners, children, elder abuse, and violence within families.
4. Xenophobic Violence — violence directed against immigrants, people perceived as foreigners and people perceived as different such as Gay people and Transgender people.
5. Psychopathic or Predatory Violence — serial killers, sadistic offenders, and apparently individualized violence where ideology or ordinary social conflict offers little explanation.
6. Clan, Gang, and Tribal Violence — gangs, organized criminal groups, family feuds, and perhaps the broader human tendency to divide society into “us” and “them.”
7. Religious and Sectarian Violence — violence against religious minorities, antisemitism, anti-Muslim violence, attacks on churches, synagogues, mosques, and violence justified through religious ideology.
8. Political and Ideological Violence — Assassinations, insurrectionary violence, terrorism, extremist movements, attacks on political officials, and violence intended to achieve political ends.
9. Mass and Public Violence — school shootings, workplace shootings, public massacres, and other attacks in which strangers or institutions become targets.
10. Institutional and State Violence — slavery enforced by government, violent suppression of labor movements, abuses by law enforcement, incarceration abuses, military actions against Indigenous peoples, and other violence exercised or sanctioned through institutions.
11. Economic Violence:  violence associated with robbery, organized crime, drug markets, labor conflict, exploitation, and disputes over property and resources.

One contradiction that we need to deal with when talking about violence in this country is this:

Why has violence been such a persistent thread in American history despite our country’s simultaneous traditions of democracy, generosity, tolerance, community service, religious freedom, and peaceful political change.

To call America “A Land of Violence and Hate” can seem harsh because it can ignore the other side of the coin.  However, I think it is time we face up to the fact that while many good deeds, good people and good efforts to help others do exist in America, there is all too much violence. 

We all want the same thing.  Less violence in our lives and more good times.  Unless we admit that we have an epidemic of violence in our country and deal with it, nothing will change and as history has shown us it will only get worse. 

Next Blog: 

1.  Social Violence